


The Hall of Flames (Hospital)

by icecheetah



Series: Everything Does Happen [1]
Category: Blaseball (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Burning, Gen, Hospitalization, I kinda like the "hall of flames is a hospital" as an AU idea in general, a friend judged this to be bordenline mature so think of this as being rated 15, getting off to an angsty start for the AUs where Case is still alive, not sure 'graphic' depictions of 'violence' really applies but it gives an idea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-25 10:26:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30087672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icecheetah/pseuds/icecheetah
Summary: Incineration doesn't HAVE to be fatal, does it?
Relationships: Case Sports & Fran Beans
Series: Everything Does Happen [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2213859
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Look. I'm bad at writing accents and I'm Scottish. If I tried to write a cowboy accent for Fran she'd probably sound like a French speaking Australian or something. I imagine they are speaking Spanish and this is all translated anyways.
> 
> This story has been broken into a series purely from a tag wrangling standpoint. Like, the events in these chapters will have no relevance to later chapters so the warnings won't be relevant either.
> 
> Also this fic IS borderline Mature according to a friend who helped me judge a previous, and broadly similar, fic I wrote in the past WAS Mature.

The chill from the last game still nested in Case's spine. They held themself, pressed their shoulders against the back of the spongy chair they sat in, trying to squeeze out that last bit of cold with their own body heat. To absolutely no avail.  
At least that game was silent.  
Silence during solar eclipses meant they could focus on the game and not if any particular roar meant they had to duck and hope that they didn't feel even slightly warmer. That the next thing they heard wasn't anyone screaming. That they wouldn't have to ask _Who-_  
Heavy footfalls that stuck to the floor for moments. Fran was on the way.  
"Sorry! Hold out a hand," She said, bringing a sweet smell with her, that she passed to Case in a warm paper cup. "Fresh outta coffee, so I asked them for the most warming sweet thing they have. Whatever it is, it really sticks to the sides of the cup."  
The smell was... chocolate and... mint? But the mint was a little left of mint and softer. They took a sip. It was really thick and-  
Case coughed. Well. THAT certainly blasted the cold out of their spine.  
"AHH! Did I get you... dark spicymilk?"  
"It's certainly spicy!" A couple more coughs. "But no. It's hot chocolate. Or maybe chocolate soup." They held the cup away from them and frowned in its general direction.  
"Too much?" Scraping sounds. Fran's arms were moving.  
Case clicked their tongue, and then they took a big gulp. And sighed. "Just a surprise." Yeah. With the spiciness expected, it was pleasant. Chased away any chance the chill would come back. Finally, Case could unfuse from the chair. "Thank you Fran."  
Creaking noises to their right. Probably Fran sitting down. "Didn't see a single ump out there that game."  
"Ah, it's getting to be a while since they last appeared."  
"Well I heard the Hall of Flames hadn't got any new patients recently, so maybe this is a sign they'll KEEP staying away."  
Case chuckled. One could hope. If one day it could shut down and no one's ca-  
"Cell!" Fran yelped, right before Case was pulled over by their shoulder, and their head into a warm body of feathers. Their fingers weren't wet so they probably didn't spill the chocolate in the process.  
"Hi Cell," they stated.  
"Hi! I saw you were cold!" She chirped. "Ronan was nice and warmed up so-"  
"Cell, you're supposed to ASK them!" Fran jumped. "We've both told several generations of you! The last three took it to heart."  
Part of Case WANTED to let it go. Always wanted to let it go. "Yes, I would appreciate you asking. It can be terrifying when not expected." But it kept on being a problem.  
The feathers around Case shuffled and then let them go. "Sorry. I was just born!"  
"Thank you for releasing me. And I am quite warmed up from my drink," Case took another sip, and found they had to tilt the cup. Getting pretty empty already? Did they spill some after all? "I'm not the only one you should ask these things."   
"Bwah." Cell made a whooshing sound. "Okay okay. Sorry sorry."  
"Your first sorry was enough." Case turned in her direction and smiled. "As long as you try and ensure your descendants don't do it again." Apologies were weird with Cell.  
"Well, I'll go and see if anyone ELSE would actually LIKE to be hugged!" Cell whooshed, flew off probably.  
Fran sighed. "And she didn't even think to offer me."  
Knowing that sigh, Case hid their grin in another sip, not tilted enough to actually bring the remaining liquid to their lips. "I'm sure the next one will." And then the pulled the cup away, turned in Fran's direction, and tilted their head. "Will I do in the meantime?"

* * *

The game was cold.  
The game was silent.   
And then heat pushed Case to the ground and thousands of Cells shrieked to one side and meat seared and something screamed and so did something else that had Case's voice and the air was thick with heat and beyond the edges of the pain around Case's arm there was nothing but weight trying to pull itself free.  
Case tried to duck. Too late, already on the ground. All they did was curl.  
Fran's voice... everyone's voices... but no meaning to them. Just distressed sounds and barked commands and pleading arranged in senseless syllables. Cold pushed into the pain. Being moved.  
It had cheated.  
Case's first clear thought after what had to be an attack from an Umpire. They always roared. Always. So why was this one SILENT?  
That wasn't fair.  
"...c... plea... ng... "  
The air chilled and thinned, the cold that started to hold back the pain was wet and clinging.   
"...raise... ."  
"..just throw the damn.."  
Metal scraping. Very close.  
Oh. Fran... of course... who else... .  
"Case! Say something!"  
They could trust her to... to... make... .  
... .

* * *

Beep.  
Case awoke to a bed that felt hard and clean under their fingers. The ones that could feel anyway.   
Beep.  
The other hand felt nothing.  
Beep.  
They tried to move it but it didn't respond.  
Beep.  
Wait... were they in a hospi... why?  
Beep.  
They lifted their feeling hand. Something pulled at it from inside.  
Beep.  
CLUNK.  
Beep  
"CASE!"  
Beep Beep  
"Oh thank fuck you woke up! I was starting to... nevermind... ."  
Beep beep beep beep beep  
Fran's cold hand against their cheek.  
Beep beep beep  
"We got a new player named Roscoe... though Kennedy Meh-"  
Beep beepbeepbeep (shut up!)  
"-said something like maybe he should be out there instead because what happened to you wouldn't happen to him-"  
Beepbeepbeepbeep  
"-dismissed it fast though and... um..."  
The beeping continued in Fran's silence, slowly heading down.  
"-Joshua Butt is here too. From the Firefighters. They... got hit soon after... and Stephanie was shelled- "  
Case focused on her. The longer she went, or more like the more time passed, the easier it was. Listening to what she said, and lots of bad news all around. Lots of things they'd MISSED.  
Funny... they didn't feel any pain in that time... and they didn't remember the burning.  
But one arm could feel and the other could not... .  
Case reached around, this time ignoring the sense of an IV line moving IN their hand.  
"Case, don't-!"  
First they found nothing. Then, moving up, they found a rounded, rough and soft shape. Bandages? Plaster? Under that shape, the almost missing arm twitched.  
"I..." Fran's voice cracked in a defeat Case had NEVER heard there before. "... I'm sorry... . I... think prosthetics might work with ... what you have left."  
And again there was silence aside from the beeps.  
Most people who got incinerated... their Blaseball careers died. The Hall of Flames was nothing short of miraculous in terms of actually keeping victims of the Umpires alive, but... a missing arm was a missing arm. And they hadn't heard of anyone continuing to play with prosthetics like Frans's.  
"Case... talk to me?"  
...  
They couldn't just leave her.  
"I... need to think."


	2. One Game Was Cold.

The game was cold.  
The game was silent.  
And a scraping instinct pulled Case down into a duck, as if they'd heard warning screams. But the game continued to be silent.  
They stood.  
The game continued.  
Their arm itched. 

The moment they got away from the game, they scratched. The itch had spread itself thin to cover their own arm. And it faded everywhere they touched. They allowed a sigh. They didn't, they couldn't, notice the post game chill.  
"Wow," Mullen said.  
Case flinched. They hadn't expected... any company whatsoever.  
She continued, "Was it that itch what pulled you out of your game Mixter Sports?"  
"No... were there Rogue Umpires in that match?"  
"Umps? No?" Her tone was questioning, "I'm starting to think they're gone for good... don't tell anyone that."  
"I won't." So, why did they feel like they'd heard... felt like. They didn't hear but it felt like they'd heard the Rogue Umpire scream that comes before an attempted incineration.   
"But why did you ask?"  
They didn't have a reason, not one that sounded... okay. "It's just making me nervous."  
"Like you'll forget how to protect yourself or something? Heh. Well you got your practice earlier!"  
Case remained silent for a few chosen moments. That... certainly... "Something like that."


End file.
